Thesis--Auburn University, 2009. / Abstract. Vita. Includes bibliographic references (p.97-107).

Overweight and obesity have significant health and economic consequences for people living in the UK. The psychological factors involved in the development of overweight and obesity are very important and can make a significant contribution to the development of interventions that inform public health policy and services. The current thesis employed three studies to examine the psychological factors that may predict overweight and obesity and contribute to the development of interventions that help to promote long-term weight loss maintenance, which have implications for improving health outcomes and reducing the economic burden. Study One (N=60) employed a 5-day diary to examine overweight and obese individuals' perceived reasons for eating (particularly in relation to unhealthy snacking). Study Two (N=30) was a follow-up to Study One and examined the factors that may predict long-term weight change. Finally, Study Three (N=60) employed an exploratory randomised controlled trial to examine the efficacy of a combined mindfulness plus implementation intentions intervention for promoting physical activity. The results of Study One provided evidence for the existence of reasons for eating unhealthy snacks other than hunger and highlighted the importance of addressing these factors within weight management interventions. Study Two did not conclusively demonstrate that psychological reasons for eating were long-term predictors of weight change, suggesting future research is needed to obtain further information on this complicated issue. This will help to determine whether reasons for eating can indeed predict weight change. The combined intervention in Study Three failed to promote physical activity, but highlighted a number of interesting factors such as task difficulty, unsupportive environments and insufficient motivation that need to be addressed in future research. Ensuring the population maintain a healthy weight and improving long-term health outcomes is very important, and therefore needs to be addressed at multiple levels in order to inform effective public health policy and services.

The transition to college has been identified as a critical period for increases in overweight status. Overweight college students are at-risk of becoming obese adults, thus prevention efforts targeting college age individuals might be one key to reducing adult obesity rates. The current study developed and implemented an intensive, 6-session, internet intervention. This intervention was evaluated with first year college students assigned randomly to one of four treatment conditions: 1) no treatment, 2) 6-week weight and caloric feedback only, 3) 6-week internet intervention, and 4) 6-week combined feedback and internet intervention. As expected, the combined intervention group had lower BMI at post-testing than the internet, feedback, and control groups. The combined intervention showed reduced snacking behaviors after dinner; however, other measures of eating and exercise behaviors and beliefs were not observed. Ethnic and gender differences were observed. African American participants had lower body dissatisfaction than White participants. Further, within the White subsample, the combined intervention group manifested reductions in binge eating symptoms and increased fiber intake compared to controls. Males reported more physical activity across all intervention arms than females. This study demonstrates the effectiveness and feasibility of an internet based intervention to prevent weight gain among college students. Future studies are needed to understand the mechanisms involved in preventing weight gain in this age group and to develop more culturally targeted interventions for diverse students.

2 pp. / To gain weight, athletes need to consume more calories than they use. This weight gain will include water, fat, and protein in muscle. To limit the amount of fat gain and increase muscle gains, athletes need to use effective exercise training and nutrition programs.

Current ACOG guidelines recommend exercise during a low-risk pregnancy for 30 minutes on most, if not all days of the week. However, little is known about how the volume of exercise performed during pregnancy affects fetoplacental size. In addition, the confounding effects of maternal nutrient intake and weight gain, and how they interact with exercise volume to influence fetoplacental size have not been appropriately addressed. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of varying maternal exercise volumes on neonatal birthweight and placental volume, while addressing the influence of maternal nutrient intake and weight gain. Subjects evaluated for this study included pregnant women who walked during gestation (n=26), performed non-walking aerobic exercise during gestation (n=30), or remained as sedentary controls (n=32). At 16, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36 weeks gestation, women recorded their nutrient intake for 3 consecutive days. Additionally, they kept monthly exercise logs indicating the type and duration of their exercise. Nutrient variables calculated included average daily Calorie intake, average daily carbohydrate intake, average daily protein intake, average daily fat intake, and average daily fiber intake. Exercise volume was calculated as the average number of minutes per week spent performing exercise. Latent growth modeling was the statistical procedure used to analyze how change in maternal exercise volume and nutrient intake throughout gestation affects neonatal outcomes. Neonatal outcomes measured were birthweight, corrected birthweight for gestational age, sex, race, and socioeconomic status, and placental volume at delivery. Maternal walking volume had no effect on newborn birthweight or corrected birthweight, while it was inversely related to placental size at birth. Maternal non-walking aerobic exercise volume was inversely related with newborn birthweight, while there was a trend toward an inverse relationship with corrected birthweight and placental volume. Controlling for Calorie intake strengthened the relationship between any form of exercise volume and infant birthweight. Calorie intake, carbohydrate intake, and protein intake were all positively related to infant birthweight. Fiber intake was significantly inversely related to placental volume. Finally, maternal exercise volume and nutrient intake were not related to maternal weight gain. This data suggests that neonatal outcome will be affected by variations in exercise protocol. In addition, nutrient intake is a potentially confounding variable that should be examined when undertaking studies addressing the role of maternal exercise on neonatal outcome.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Virginia Commonwealth University, 2009. / Prepared for: Dept. of Psychology. Title from title-page of electronic thesis. Bibliography: leaves 88-99. Available online via the Internet.

Thesis (M. Sc.)--York University, 2000. Graduate Programme in Kinesiology and Health Science. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 16-23). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pMQ59170.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine weight and lifestyle among persons with schizophrenia from their perspectives. Two specific research questions are addressed: 1: What are the perceptions of persons with schizophrenia related to their weight? 2: What are the experiences of persons with schizophrenia in maintaining a healthy lifestyle? Methods A qualitative, constructivist research design is used to guide the study. Unstructured interviews are the method of data collection and analysis is done using constant comparison. A purposive sample of 18 participants was obtained from an Outpatient Psychiatric Unit. Findings Three themes, Normal Life Thrown a Curve Ball, Weight Management as Complex, and Today’s Experiences Shape Tomorrow’s Outcomes, were identified by the participants. Weight management was seen as a complex and difficult phenomenon; however, participants were optimistic about their ability to achieve a healthy weight in the future. Individual strategies, support and education were identified as essential weight management components. Conclusions The perceptions identified in this study further our understanding of the complexity of weight management, and can be used to design future weight loss interventions better tailored to this population. / Thesis (Master, Nursing) -- Queen's University, 2009-05-05 14:46:05.704

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